


Means to an End

by vi_mexa



Series: Hearts Explained [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, a good bit of angst, gratuitous cursing, relief writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-03-28 19:34:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13910724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vi_mexa/pseuds/vi_mexa
Summary: “It seems our newest member has arrived.”She recognized it as Xemnas’ voice but she was unable to immediately pinpoint where it was coming from until she realized the pillars around her weren’t really pillars at all. Enormous chairs sat at varying heights around her, on top of which the Organization members were seated. How fitting that she found Xemnas directly in front of her and in the highest chair of them all.This seems a little much but I suppose I’d do the same thing if I ran a group of people whom I wanted to fear me.---A story dedicated to exploring the Organization members' personalities through what amounts to a self-insert/outsider's perspective.





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> If I don't post this now, I never will.

Heya :) I feel this is a big enough thing to warrant a bit more of an author’s note than usual. (What I have so far is over 70 pages in 10pt font so yeah, _little_ larger than my other stuff.) I ended up deciding to write this after looking at KH2 as an adult (vs my high school self when I first played it) and I realized how much my perceptions of everything had changed. I thought it would be fun to explore some of the personalities that I ~~and Square~~ really glossed over. It's also a sort of relief piece for myself because I'm always writing for others and things that I'm not really interested in. So this is my big self-indulgence work. 

This is, for the most part, canon-compliant. It won’t be at the end — if I ever get there. That being said, there’s a fair amount of character death, as there is in the series normally. I’m kinda pulling bits from all of the KH media and mixing it together bc not all of it agrees with each other (eg. the manga and the games, additional game scenes added into the remixes, etc.) and adding a slight bit more of a domestic-y vibe to the whole thing since the focus is on the characters rather than the action/end goal — expect a lot of mundane junk thrown in because I can. Some core KH-universe mechanics are probably gonna be scrapped because of that as I go along. (e.g. how the black coats function) 

Now for the rating. I swear a lot in my writing. Especially in internal monologues. I'm also one of those people who will start a story only to find that it escalates wildly into something I didn't expect, so it's a kind of precaution in case things happen. I'll also be adding tags as I go along for warnings and such, don't worry. Main reason for ‘explicit’, though? Eventually there _may_ be some sex scenes but I plan on writing them to be stand-alone, non-essential chapters so you can skip right over them if it’s not your cup of tea. They’ll be labelled in the chapter index as such and there’ll be notes at the end of the previous chapter and the beginning of the chapter in question to grab your attention. 

Updating will be _slow_. I've got school, work, and some serious procrastination. At best, this'll be retro-edited only 3 other times as I’m writing. Worst? Every time I release a new chapter I’ll go back through and change other chapters because I don’t like the style I wrote in on that particular day. It’s gonna be a bit choppy because I never have enough time to write continuously; if you find any glaring continuity/voice mistakes lemme know because chances are I totally missed it and I’ll be glad someone pointed it out.

Figured I'd throw all of that at y'all now so you don't get like two chapters in and realize it's not what you signed up for.

But uhhh, yep, that’s about it. I love feedback and I’ll try my best to reply with at least a ‘thank you’! :) Enjoy~


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long exposition begins.

Another dream about her. A tall woman. Long dark hair, green eyes, rather pale. She knew they had to be connected somehow….like that was her but different. Every time she woke up from a dream about that woman she felt unsettled. She wanted to say ‘angry’ but that didn’t seem right.

 

 _How long has it been….since I’ve felt…._ normal _?_

 

She didn’t know anymore. She’d never really been much of a conversationalist anyway, mostly sticking to herself and a few close friends, she couldn’t remember when she had ‘changed’; stopped feeling ‘right’. She did remember that it had happened on a walk....

 

 _She liked to take walks, right_?

 

One evening she woke up on the wet cobblestone during a rain storm and couldn’t remember why she was there or what happened before then. Not having much choice, she quickly learned how to live in this new place, making up a story as she went.

 

Over the years she gradually pieced together memories of her past life through her dreams. This was some strange town she’s never seen before, her family was nowhere to be found, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t find anyone who knew what she was talking about. It didn’t change much, though, if she was right about those dreams. She was still a tall pale woman with black hair and green eyes. She still had only a few friends and a relatively quiet life. This was her ‘normal’.

 

* * *

 

Wake up, exercise, sleep. Wake up, exercise, sleep. Everyone seemed to have a routine in this sleepy little town and she was no exception. In the case of exceptionally bad weather she’d stay in her apartment and make use of her computer or read a book she’d picked up in one of the little shops. Occasionally she’d take up an odd job or five on her run around the town, helping whoever needed a hand.

 

The day looked nice enough for a few runs around the town, maybe a bit of weight lifting before lunch, a small trip to the store for some more groceries, some free time before cooking dinner, another quick run, and then a long sleep so she could do it all again the next day.

 

_Wait, no….that tournament’s today. I wanted to see what it’s about._

 

She shook her head lightly at her uncharacteristic adventurousness and let out a small laugh, “It’s about time for a change.”

 

Rolling out of bed, she slipped on her sandals and went to get herself ready for the day. While on her way to the tiny kitchen she flipped on her computer, started up a music program, and began singing along. The smell of coffee and warm bread filled her apartment as she ate her morning bagel and slowly enjoyed her overlarge mug of coffee.

 

Soon she was outside, hair in a side braid that draped over her shoulder, ready to take a jog up to the train station and back. On her way she passed a few of the usual people, tossed them a small smile and hello as she went by, and continued uphill. Just because she didn’t necessarily _enjoy_ talking to people didn’t mean she wasn’t polite.

 

She reached the station at the top of the hill and sat down on the steps to catch her breath. As she did, a group of kids ran past her, laughing and talking about what they were going to do over the weekend.

 

 _Live it up, kiddos. You never know when you’re just not gonna feel it anymore._ She wrinkled her nose. _God, I’m not_ that _old….why the heck do I sound like it? Ugh, it’s the damn depression, isn’t it? Y’know, I really thought we were done with that…._

 

She mentally chided herself and rolled her eyes and that’s when she found it; a Struggle poster.

 

“Oh,” she exclaimed as she walked over.

 

 _Wonder what the details are…. Hm! Seems like something entertaining!_ A half smile came across her face and she became determined to do this - to break out of her routine just once. But there was enough time before the tournament to still drop by the store and grab a small lunch and some things for dinner.

 

* * *

 

“Hello, Em. Nice to see you again. Still looking for those chocolates,” the shopkeeper asked when she walked in.

 

Em gave a small smile. “Hi. I’m not, actually. Just here for some carrots, tomatoes, and bread.”

 

The shopkeeper continued smiling as he reached for the counter behind him. “Aw, that’s a shame seeing as how I finally got a shipment in!”

 

Em was sure her eyes were sparkling, she was so happy. “Really, James? If that’s the case I’ll definitely buy a package! Wait, no….three!”

 

_If deciding to do something different gets the universe to finally give me my mint chocolates, then hell, I’m gonna do something new every day._

 

“Good,” James laughed, “I had hoped that you would stop in today so I could finally say ‘I have them!’ Figured it would make your day better, too.”

 

She quickly grabbed the rest of her groceries and thanked James multiple times for remembering her off-hand comment a few months back about the sweets.

 

As she headed out of the store even though she was smiling, there was a nagging voice in the back of her head.

 

 _You’re not_ really _happy. You just want to be._

 

At that moment she wanted nothing more than to body slam that voice into next Tuesday. Even if it was some superficial sense of ‘happy’ it was better than the monotony she’d been experiencing for goodness knows how long.

 

It felt like maybe her life was taking a turn for the better; all she had to do was stop off at home to put down her food and she’d be off to the competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anything, this will be my most heavily edited chapter because I have not - in 8 months - ever been happy with that opening but I've got no other ideas for it.


	3. Chapter 2

Em approached the competition area and nervous energy flooded her body.

 

_ Oh god….this was a terrible idea. I can’t do this….But I’m already here and I can’t leave or else it’ll be awkward because people will  _ see _ me leave. _ She groaned at her predicament but reluctantly continued walking into the busy square.

 

Both kids and even a few adults were milling about, chatting with one another about how they wanted to win and who they hoped they wouldn’t face. 

 

She spotted those kids from the train station, huddled up in a corner discussing how the ladder could end up playing out, and a group of slightly older teens in the opposite corner smiling confidently while sizing up the rest of the competitors. 

 

Martine, the woman who worked at the mail center, spotted her and waved her over.

 

“Emma, hello! Come to compete today,” she excitedly asked.

 

Martine was the only person allowed to call her ‘Emma’; it was almost an inside joke, but in reality Martine had a cousin named Emma and usually said it on accident. After the fifth time, Em told her not to worry about it. 

 

Em quickly raised her hands in front of her and smiled sheepishly. “Oh no, I just came by to see what it’s all about.”

 

“Really,” Martine asked. “I think with all the running and lifting you do, you’d be able to get pretty far.” A sly look crossed her face and she tapped her chin thoughtfully. “You know,” she drawled, “I bet you could show Setzer what for.”

 

“Setzer?”

 

“Yeah! You know, that guy who always has a crowd of women cheering for him?”

 

Em looked at her skeptically. “And you’re not one of them?”

 

“No!” Martine shook her head vehemently. “He’s so stuck up, I can’t stand him. Well….at least  _ now _ I’m not cheering for him. I’ll admit I used to think he was kind of attractive,” she trailed off for a moment, a far off look in her eyes before she continued, her voice flat. “But after you spend more than five minutes with him you learn pretty fast that there’s no place for anyone else in the room once he steps in.”

 

“Wow, that bad, huh,” snickered Em. “Hhhhhh, I dunno.”

 

“Oh come on, Em. It’ll be fun! Plus, I really want to see his face when he gets beaten by one of his ‘adoring fans’.”

 

It was a difficult choice to make, she didn’t want to be noticed but the thought of taking this guy down a notch was pretty appealing; being able to make one of her few friends happy in the process was a nice bonus, too.

 

She steeled her nerves and took a deep breath. “Alright. Who do I talk to to sign up?”

 

A wide grin spread across Martine’s face as she squealed and hugged her friend. 

 

“I knew you would go for it! Go see Angelo, the man in green over there. He’ll get you set up for the prelims and acquainted with the rules. I’ll be cheering for you!”

 

Em carefully wove through the small groups of people on her way over to Angelo. Before she reached him, she stood off to the side for a moment and took a deep breath.  _ You’ve got this, it’s simple. Everyone else here is doing the same thing, you’ll fit right in. _

 

“Hi, I hear you’re the man I should talk to about signing up,” she said cheerfully and gave him her best smile.

 

Angelo turned to her and smiled back, “Yep, that’s me! So, you think you’ve got what it takes?”

 

“I sure do. I’m gonna win this for a friend.”

 

He let out a hearty laugh. “That’s what I like to hear! Here,” he handed her a clipboard. “Just put your down your name and age and we’ll work you into the ladder.”

 

“Thank you,” she quipped as she took the clipboard from him. She took a quick scan down the list and saw that most of the people here were younger than her. She thought back to the kids at the train station earlier and felt slightly guilty. “Uhm, is it really alright that we’ve got adults  _ and _ kids in this thing,” she wondered out loud.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Angelo assured. “We make sure that everyone gets paired with someone near their own age. Once we hit the semifinals, everyone is about the same amount of skillful regardless of their age.”

 

Em smiled, her concerns now gone. “Alright then, here you go,” she said as she handed the clipboard back to Angelo.

 

“Great! We’ll have the starting matches figured out soon, you should probably head over to the group over there; they’re gonna be going over the rules.”

 

She gave him a small wave and a ‘thank-you’ before skipping over to the twelve-ish people huddled around a chalkboard. A boy, probably in his late teens, raised his eyebrow at her arrival.

 

“Why don’t we have a rule about getting here on time,” he griped to himself but loudly enough so that other people noticed Em’s arrival.

 

She was taken aback by his blunt statement and she felt her face heat up; this was exactly the kind of thing she didn’t want to happen. The promoter continued explaining the rules despite the slight interruption and soon everyone knew when they would be called up. 

 

Em trotted back over to Martine and the two women began quietly discussing things while the first matches played out. Martine had been to a few Struggle competitions and explained the best strategies for use against certain people and Em did her best to keep an eye on the stage and absorb what her friend was telling her.

 

About an hour into the tournament she heard her name called and she snapped to attention and hurriedly made her way back to the promoter.

 

“You’re up next, Em. You’ll be fighting against Diane.”

 

Both Em and Diane smiled at each other and shook hands. They’ve never talked much to each other but Em would pass by Diane’s apartment when she carried boxes of things across town for one of the older shopkeepers who couldn’t get the goods from the train station down to her store.

 

Their names were announced and they stepped up onto the platform. After a few quick reminders they were handed their bats and off they went.

 

Diane swung her bat aggressively with both hands and quickly picked up a few orbs that Em dropped for an early lead. Em, being taller, was able to land more hits while staying out of Diane’s range. The match timer ran out and Em was announced as the winner with only about twenty more orbs than her opponent.

 

The two of them shook hands again, congratulating each other with comments about how neither of them expected such a performance from the other.

 

Martine practically ran over to her friend and grabbed her shoulders.

 

“See? I told you you could do it! You've got yourself set up to win!”

 

“Martine,” Em laughed, “it was only one match! I’ve got plenty more to go.”

 

“I know! But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe you’ll make it all the way to the end!”

 

The two moved off to the side and watched the next few matches. The air of excitement was contagious and Em found herself cheering loudly along with everyone else.  _ Maybe getting out and being social wasn’t such a bad thing after all. _

 

The third match after was the slightly arrogant blonde from earlier, Seifer, and one of the kids she’d seen at the train station, Hayner. Their fight seemed a little more personal than the others, or maybe that was just how Seifer was with everyone. It was a drawn out as long as possible before Seifer quickly dove in and annihilated the younger teen. 

 

Hayner’s two friends looked disappointed as Seifer’s group made their way over to him to gloat a little more at Hayner’s expense. He got up and rejoined his friends as fast as he could, trying to shake off that embarrassing end. 

 

Em’s next match went well, Martine getting even more excited as she watched her friend's name climb the placement ladder. Eventually she was called again, this time to face Seifer.

 

She’d been watching his earlier matches and noticed that his swings were mostly straightforward and careless, not much follow-through at all. All she would have to do is side step his attacks and hit him with a good backswing. Her win on that match was apparently unexpected and caused an uproar among a few of the younger participants. None of them thought that Seifer of all people would lose to the package delivery woman. There was, however, the group of three that stood by the side of the platform cheering for her.

 

Em gave a small smile in their direction and a quick wink before she stepped off the stage but she didn’t get very far. Seifer walked in front of her, his two followers behind him.

 

“Hey,” he said gruffly, “that was a good fight.” He made eye contact only for a moment before looking off to the side.

 

“Yeah, it was,” Em smiled. “Thanks for that. Could I give you a tip for next time, though?”

 

He blinked at her before stuttering. “Uhh, yeah. Sure.”

 

She pretended like she was still holding the bat and made to swing at him. “When you go to swing like you do, put a little more energy into your wrist at the end instead of just powering it out with your elbow. It’ll be a stiffer movement overall, but you’ll get more strike out of it.”

 

They spent the next minute or so going over the adjusted movement before the two shook hands and split up. 

 

_ Nice kid….little rough around the edges, but nice. _

 

* * *

 

The stars began showing themselves as people slowly started to clear out of the sandlot. Em had lost the semi-final match— quite the upset, according to the announcer— and wasn’t able to face Setzer, who ended up winning against her final opponent. 

 

Martine was slightly disappointed but cheered on her friend anyway, happy that Em had made the effort for her. The two of them hugged and agreed to meet up for coffee sometime in the coming weeks; whenever their schedules allowed. 

 

Em went back to her apartment with a bit more energy than she normally had and cooked up a quick dish of pasta and headed back outside to finish her night with a quick lap around town. 

 

_ I’m gonna sleep soooooo good tonight. _

 

The afternoon’s activities had worn her down so she leisurely strolled through her usual path, hands behind her head while she watched the sky. She had made it all the way to the lower commons and was just about to head back home when she heard a voice she didn’t recognize.

 

“Heh. That was awful daring of you, earlier today. Goin’ out and interacting with people….not something I usually see you doing,” said a male voice. It echoed off the alley walls, she wasn’t able to pinpoint a direction it was coming from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, a cliffhanger! It really isn't, bc due to some upcoming life events I'm putting out two chapters in one day. Not sure what kind of a mood I'll be in the next few weeks.  
> This chapter is 90% unedited material that I wrote up in the two hours I have between microcomputing and accounting. I also have a mostly-complete prologue of sorts that I'll be adding as a part in the series sometime soonish. It'll go along with a set of shorter side scenarios that happen along the course of the main story.


	4. Chapter 3

“Heh. That was awful daring of you, earlier today. Goin’ out and interacting with people….not something I usually see you doing,” said a male voice. It echoed off the alley walls, she wasn’t able to pinpoint a direction it was coming from.

 

She frantically looked around and lowered her body into a fighting stance, ready to defend herself if necessary. Unfortunately, the games earlier had significantly tired her out and her tough appearance was mostly for show; if she had to she could probably pull a punch or two and run out of there pretty quickly but that’d be about it.

 

She called out into the small space, hoping she would sound more confident than she felt. “Who are you, anyway? You think you know me,” she scoffed. “‘Not something you see me doing’? What the hell is that about?”

 

Laughter resounded through the alley; whoever this guy was, he was mocking her. 

 

“Woah, that’s a lot of questions, chickie.”

 

She saw some movement from the corner of her eye and whipped around to see what it was but found nothing there. Her frustration was quickly building and she knew that unless she started calming herself down she’d probably end up doing something she’d regret later. 

 

_ Just run, girl. Whoever this is doesn’t deserve your time. GO. But,  _ oh _ , how good would it feel to punch this guy’s lights out?  _

 

Arguing with herself only proved to be a distraction. Something tapped at her shoulder and Em dropped her left elbow and swung it back while her right fist flew over her left shoulder in an attempt to hit whatever touched her.

 

She thought her right hand brushed against something but by the time she had swung the rest of herself around there was nothing in sight.

 

“Y’know, I was thinking about answering a few of those questions but now I dunno….”

 

“Or you could actually show yourself and fight me and I’ll get my answers that way.”

 

_ Oh, girl….bad move. Why did you say that…. _

 

“No need to get violent! Jeez, what happened to you? You’re always so quiet I figured this would be a piece of cake but man, you’re makin’ this really difficult.”

 

“Fuck this,” she muttered under her breath.  _ This is getting way too creepy _ . And she took off in a sprint towards her apartment. 

 

Back in the alley, a cloaked figure jumped down from the top of a building and smirked.  “Nice try, but I’m afraid that’s not gonna work, chickie.”

 

_ Just one more corner and I’m— _

 

She never got to finish that thought. Where there should have been a thru-street, there was nothing but a brick wall. She slammed into the wall arm-first but her momentum led her head to collide into the brick anyway, though not as badly as it could have been. 

 

Her vision swam as she tried to regain her grip on reality but felt something warm beginning to drip down the side of her face.

 

_ Fuck. _

 

She didn’t understand; she should have been able to run straight through there and be at her doorstep in just a few strides.  _ How could I be…. _ A quick glance around, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head.  _ Back in the alley?!?! _

 

“I didn’t really wanna do that, y’know,” came the voice again.  “We can try this again, maybe you’ll be less twitchy this time,” he taunted.

 

There were no footsteps but she heard the voice getting closer as he spoke. The urge to respond with something snarky was great but she was still trying to get her bearings and stand up. Wobbling, she managed to lean on the wall for support as she turned herself around. 

 

Once she opened her eyes, she yelped. A face was even with hers but it was upside down and this guy was definitely smiling in a way she didn’t like. She threw a quick left hook as a knee-jerk reaction and it connected with its target. The man grunted and staggered backwards but was still upside down, walking on the air like it was as natural as anything.

 

“Woah,” he said through gritted teeth,  “you’re stronger than I thought. But let me be clear; that ain’t gonna happen again.”

 

Em groaned at the pain that exploded in her wrist upon impact; if the run-in with the wall hadn’t already injured her, that punch sure did. “What—” her voice cracked, “what the hell is wrong with you?”

 

“I couldn’t just have you running away, now. Have to take you in; we’re lookin’ for more recruits so I had to bring you back around. Simple enough, y’know?” 

 

He kept smiling while he talked and it unnerved Em to no end. 

 

“The name’s Xigbar, by the by. You got a name, kiddo,” he questioned. 

 

She gave him a glare that would have frozen any normal person to their spot but suddenly the man vanished. Relief flooded her brain but it was only temporary; Xigbar reappeared right-side-up on the ground in front of her only a moment later.  “Well?”

 

She continued to glare at him and absently rubbed at her sore wrist. “Emerald,” she murmured. “That’s a name I remember, at least.”

 

Xigbar’s expression loosened up into a more genuine smile.  “Ahh, see? That wasn’t so hard! Now let’s get goin’, I want outta this place.” He paused and snorted,  “Plus we’re both bleeding and you look downright pathetic right now.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere except my apartment,” Em stated, “especially not anywhere you’ll be. I don’t appreciate people stalking me….” She lifted her chin in a quick nod and winked. “Wrist injury’s worth it, by the way. Your face is probably more swollen than mine.”

 

His expression fell back to serious as he narrowed his eyes and scowled,  “Just when I thought we were making progress.”

 

Em lurched forward, trying to force her legs to carry her tired body out of the alley but Xigbar was faster and far less injured than she was. He easily caught her around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder.

_ No one’s come yet….at this point it’s useless to keep yelling but I can at least annoy the shit out of this guy. _

 

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooo,” she wailed sarcastically while feebly pounding at his back. 

 

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,” he drawled. Em was certain he was rolling his eyes— or rather, eye— at her outburst as he stepped through a portal. 

 

* * *

 

The Castle That Never Was was fairly quiet as most of its occupants were winding down for the night and those that were still very awake were being courteous and keeping the noise to a minimum. That peaceful atmosphere was broken once Xigbar portaled in with Em still slung over his shoulder, emitting a constant low groan.

 

“Nooooooooooooooo,” she still tiredly protested.

 

Xigbar looked rather exasperated as he asked,  “Alright, we’re here. You done now?”

 

Em stopped her groaning for a moment and turned her head as far as she could to look at him. “I don’t know, are you gonna put me down and let me go back home,” she quipped.

 

Luxord, who was sitting at one of the tables playing a game of solitaire, laughed at her comment. “Is this a new recruit, Xigbar? She seems lively,” he stated, motioning toward Xigbar’s swollen and discolored lip.

 

Xigbar turned toward his co worker and gave him a deadpan stare.  “Y’know, man, I don’t know. Maybe not _ if she keeps makin’ noises like that _ ,” he said and readjusted Em to interrupt her newly continued noise of protest.  “Have you seen Bossman or Scarface around? I need to dump her on one of them.”

 

“Hm, seems you’re in luck,” said Luxord as he turned his attention back toward his card game, “Saix just passed by here on his way to Xemnas’ room.”

 

The thought of being able to catch both of them in the same place perked Xigbar right up and he walked out of the room with renewed energy. Meanwhile, Em’s voice was getting quieter and quieter as her vocal cords finally began giving out under the constant strain of her groan.

 

They continued down the hall but suddenly Xigbar stopped. 

 

“This one was able to wound you that badly,” questioned a very measured voice.

 

“Ha, yeah,” joked Xigbar,  “she got me pretty good there. Definitely wasn’t expecting a punch to the face. But I suppose that’s what happens when you back someone into a corner, am I right, babe?”

 

She gave a weak cough to clear her throat. “Do not call me ‘babe’....Like, ever. And yeah, when you kidnap someone, you should probably be expecting a fight,” she retorted hoarsely. Em put her hands on Xigbar’s back and pushed herself up far enough to be able to see what was going on behind her. Her eyes raised until they reached the face of the person that Xigbar was talking to and she almost squeaked.

 

_ Holy shit, that guy’s big. _

 

“Eh, y’know what, you’re right. No more ‘babe’. You’re too prickly for that name,”  Xigbar said and readjusted Em on his shoulder, causing the woman to fall down his back. She quickly regained her hold on his cloak and sent him a glare she wished he could see.

 

Xaldin stood in front of Xigbar, examining the other man’s face where he’d taken the punch then looked up to get a better view of the person who had caused the damage. “Let’s hope that she is as promising as you seem to think she is,” he commented before continuing his walk down the hall towards the room where Em and Xigbar had first appeared in.

 

“Wow, look at you, already making friends.” Xigbar nudged Em and laughed.  “No, but seriously, you’ll fit  _ right _ in. All you gotta do is listen to what Bossman says and things’ll work out for ya.”

 

“If you think I’m just gonna go along with this whole kidnapping thing you’re even more stupid than I thought.”

 

“Oh shit that’s right!” Xigbar stopped walking and lifted Em off his shoulder, setting her on the ground.  “Okay, so I was expecting this to go  _ way _ better on my part, but hey, plans aren’t concrete, am I right?”

 

She looked at him quizzically, wondering what would bring about such a change in his demeanor.

 

“I was kinda supposed to give you the rundown on what this place is about before I brought you and you were kinda supposed to agree to this but….” he explained,  “Okay, so you’re a Nobody; no heart. You’ve felt it, right? Of course you have. We here are trying to get our hearts back and Bossman’s got the plan.”

 

“Uh-huh….”

 

“Right, see? So you’re with us? Good to know,” he hastily noted before hoisting the woman back over his shoulder.

 

“Hey wait, I nev—”

 

Xigbar ignored her protests and knocked on a door. A muffled ‘come in’ was heard through the closed door and Xigbar stepped through.

 

He stood in front of the desk in the corner of the room and Em was left with a view of the majority of the room. A man with blue hair closed the door behind them and stood off to the side, observing Em as she began suspiciously squinting at everything in the room. The two of them made eye contact and held it, neither one moving their gaze.

 

“This here’s Emerald. She’s that Nobody I found wandering around Twilight Town a few months back; Saix you prolly read all about her in my reports.”

 

Without taking his gaze off her, Saix spoke. “I am aware of the situation, yes.”

 

Em narrowed her eyes at him even farther.

 

_ Oh great, this bitch was in on the kidnapping. Gotcha. You’re on my hitlist, bud. _

 

Xigbar rather ungraciously set Em down on her feet and turned her to face the man at the desk. The silver-haired man smiled down at her, though it wasn’t exactly a kind smile, more like she was his next victim. She kept her eyes narrowed to try and make herself look more confident than she felt.

 

_ Oh my god, Em. You’re  _ actually _ gonna die this time. _

 

“Emerald….” began the man at the desk, his voice was slow and smooth, “I am Xemnas. As you have likely noticed and been informed, you are a Nobody— a being with no heart. This organization aims to remedy that; by collecting hearts that have no body to belong to, we craft Kingdom Hearts, where our own hearts can be found.”

 

Xigbar let out a huff; if he knew Xemnas was going to tell her everything, he wouldn’t have bothered trying to do it last-minute.

 

“So this organization goes around finding and collecting Nobodies? Don’t you give them any choice in the matter?”

 

Xigbar shot her a warning glance and she swore she could feel Saix’s eyes burning a hole in her back. Xemnas looked unfazed by her questions.

 

“Yes and no,” he calmly explained. “We find those Nobodies who show the determination to continue their lives and they join because it gives them a sense of purpose.”

 

“Okay, I’ll admit that my life was rather dry but I think I’d—”

 

“With all due respect, sir,” Saix snapped, “I do not see the necessity—”

 

Xemnas narrowed his eyes at both of them and snapped his fingers. That was enough to startle both Saix and Em into silence.

 

Three strange white creatures appeared out of nowhere. Em eyed them with suspicion as they twitched and swayed in place.

 

Seeming pleased with her expression, Xemnas restarted his speech. “These are Dusks— Nobodies who did not have wills strong enough to maintain their human form. They are relatively mindless; they follow orders because they seek purpose.” He paused a moment to gauge how the recruit was taking this information, then picked back up. “They can be your allies….or you can be one yourself.”

 

Trying to take in all the new information at once, Em stood there, unmoving.  _ I don’t get it— Oh….oh my god. _ Her eyes widened in realization and her face quickly hardened into a scowl.  _ Kidnap me then give me a life or death ultimatum. Y’all are doing yourselves some  _ real _ favors here.  _

 

“Either I stay and help or I lose what little I have left of myself, is what you’re telling me,” she sneered.

 

The entire room was tense; Saix stood in the back, torn between smugness and unease at the thought of witnessing someone’s demise; Xigbar was noticeably shifting his weight back and forth, his gaze flitting between the woman and his superior; Xemnas merely smirked in agreement. 

 

With a defeated sigh Em’s shoulders sagged and she huffed. “Alright, fine. You win. My existence may suck but at least I  _ am _ existing.”

 

Xigbar let out a sigh of relief but Saix remained stiff.

 

“It’s good to know you’ve come to see things our way,” Xemnas purred before snapping his fingers again.

 

The three dusks began milling around Em, gently nudging her limbs. She looked up at Xemnas, panicked, wondering if he had lied to her and she was going to be turned into one of those anyway.

 

“Huh,” he smirked, “you emulate fear well, considering the circumstances.” He waved his hand unenthusiastically. “They’re just taking your measurements; you’ll have clothes ready tomorrow….” Xemnas stopped talking and looked down at his desk in thought, his gaze flicked upwards and his expression eased back into a knowing smirk. He raised a hand up in front of him and once again spoke in his low, deliberate tone.

 

“However, now, there is the matter of your name.”

 

His raised hand swept in front of him, leaving behind the letters of Emerald’s name floating in the air. She marvelled at the sight, never having seen actual magic before. The letters moved and began shuffling rapidly. She tried keeping track of them as they spun faster and faster but as soon as her eyes were able to recognize a letter it had already moved on. Xemnas thrust his hand forward and the letters came to an abrupt stop but now there was an ‘X’ added in.

 

“Drelmexa?”

 

“Your new name,” stated Xemnas, “make something of it.”

 

The letters vanished and Drelmexa averted her eyes to the ground, trying to get used to the idea of not having any kind of connection to her past life. Her name had kept her anchored even though she wasn’t all that fond of it.

 

“We’ll place you with Lexaeus and see how you fare. Xigbar will lead you to your room and will retrieve you tomorrow morning. You’ll meet everyone then.”

 

Xigbar patted Drelmexa on the back and smiled. “See, that wasn’t so hard! Now c’mon, I wanna sleep this off.”

 

Her attention snapped back to the present and she shook off her previous thoughts. “Okay but what about—”

 

“What, this,” Xigbar asked as he gently flicked the spot on her head where she had hit it against the brick wall.

 

She recoiled in pain and it took all she had in her to not punch him again. 

 

Xigbar just laughed as he lead her out of the room,  “Don’t worry about that junk, it’ll heal in your sleep. It’s kinda nice not having to worry about things that Somebodies do, am I right?”

 

She held her right hand in her left, finally examining how much damage was done in an attempt to try and ignore whatever Xigbar had to say.

 

“Aww, come on! Now you’re not talkin to me,” Xigbar exaggerated, placing a hand over his chest. “ I’m hurt, really.”

 

But he could only hold his offended expression for a moment before laughing. Drelmexa looked up from her hands in slight disgust, eyes wide.

 

_ Dude, how dramatic and  _ loud _ do you have to be? _

 

“Ha,” his laughter died down enough to speak clearly,  “Man, you are no fun. Lighten up a little! Just because we don’t have hearts doesn’t mean we can’t pretend, y’know?”

 

“Listen….I’ve had a rough day and I’m in pain—”

 

“Yeah, same here but you don’t see me not laughing about it.”

 

Drelmexa was taken aback by his statement and she wasn’t sure whether to be angry or ashamed; he was the one who got her into this situation after all, but she had forgotten that he’d also been hurt in their earlier scuffle. In a hasty compromise with herself she decided to look angrily at the ground.

 

“Sorry….” she murmured, “I’m just pissy….pretty normal, sadly. And I- I don’t really enjoy humor all that much; I like dry humor and sarcasm….and the sound of limbs hitting wooden stairs.”

 

Xigbar smiled.  “And here I thought you were all work, no play. Ya got me.”

 

“Well actually I—”

 

“Nono, I’m lettin you have this one; just take it for what it is,” he conceded as they turned a corner.  “Your room can be any of these.” He waved his hand down towards the end of the hallway, showcasing about ten rooms to choose from.

 

“They’re all empty?”

 

“We got a  _ loooootta _ space, here.” He placed his hands on his hips and breathed out.  “Lotsa work to do, y’know?”

 

“Well, no….but I guess I will soon….” she said forlornly. 

 

Drelmexa walked down the hall to the first door and opened it. Its setup was rather plain; a bed, nightstand, a small desk, and a closet was all that was inside. Her face scrunched up on one side in a half grimace.  _ Is this really it? Yikes…. _

 

She closed that door and started heading to the next one. Before she reached the handle Xigbar called out to her.

 

“All the rooms look the same, if it’ll save ya some trouble. The ones on the other side have windows, though.” He pointed with his thumb and motioned towards his left with his head.

 

“Oh. Thanks,” she said as she plodded over to the third room on that side, “I guess I’ll take this one then. But is there a place where I can shower or something? I’m a little gross after that run and escape attempt.”

 

Xigbar quickly looked around for a few moments.  “Ah! Yeah,” he pointed down the hall and motioned to the right,  “If you go down to the end there it’s that room.”

 

_ Does this guy ever  _ not _ speak with his hands? _

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Heh, no problem. I’ll grab ya in a few hours, ‘kay?”

 

“Define ‘a few’ because I really,  _ really _ love sleep and about ten is ideal.”

 

Xigbar almost doubled over, howling with laughter.  “Oh,  _ man _ ! You’re a real riot, y’know that? But seriously? More like six, chickie.”

 

Drelmexa whined, “Do I at least get some sort of alarm clock?”

 

“Yeah, me!”

 

“Oh god….”

 

A wide grin crossed Xigbar’s face before he turned around and waved over his shoulder. Not a moment later he was gone, Drelmexa didn’t know how he kept doing that but she was determined to find out and hopefully use it against him. She shrugged off the thought and made a beeline for the shower, eager to get the gravel, dirt, and sweat off of her.

 

The grey-toned room was almost sterile in design but it had all the necessities and it was  _ big _ . Drelmexa marveled at the sheer size of it— so used to her tiny apartment that she had to hold back a squeal of excitement. She ran over to a a shelf piled with fluffy towels and gently pressed her hand on top of the pile, letting it sink into the soft, dense fabric.

 

“Oh no….” she said, grinning, “I’m truly an adult; I’m excited about bath towels.”

 

She was quick to remove her clothes and turn on the hot water. It took a moment to warm up but once it hit that perfect temperature - hot but not quite scalding - she relished in how nice it felt against her sore muscles. If she hadn’t been so tired she would have stayed in there for at least an hour but her legs were screaming at her to lay down. She dried herself off and wrapped up in one of the largest towels she could find.

 

_ Well it’s not like I’ve got extra clothes yet, this’ll be fine for now…. _

 

After grabbing her belongings and making sure that everything was back in its place she dashed across the hall into the room that she’d picked out and shut the door behind her. A quick flick of her good wrist and she tossed her dirty clothes into a corner. She put her hand out on the mattress and pressed on it, testing it much like she had with the towels. It was a little firmer than she’d like but that would get worked out over time. Just as Drelmexa was climbing onto the bed she noticed the window and decided to take a look before she retired for the night.

 

The bottom of the window was a little above her waist so she planted her elbows on the ledge and leaned forward to stick her head out a little ways. The view left her awestruck; the castle was indeed huge and seemingly floating, it overlooked a small city lit up by soft blue and yellow neon.

 

_ Hmm, I’ll have to take a stroll through there sometime. _

 

But what really caught her attention was the night sky. It was a different view than what she was used to, for sure, but a few of the brighter star patterns were recognizable. When she looked almost directly up she saw a small, heart-shaped moon hanging above one of the castle’s spires. It fascinated her; she sank down and rested her chin in her hands to avoid craning her neck too much. In all her years of stargazing she’d never seen anything like it and she was almost scared to look away, afraid that if she did it would disappear.

 

After a few minutes her legs were yelling at her again, forcing her to tear herself from the sky and get to bed. As she turned away her eyes caught sight of a figure out on what looked like a strange windowed balcony. Her glasses had been left behind in her apartment so she squinted to get a good look at them.

 

_ Blue hair…. _

 

It was that man from earlier, Saix. He too was standing there, entranced by the strange moon. He must have felt her eyes on him as he turned toward her window and they locked gazes for the second time that night. Though this time it had a different feel, it wasn’t as vicious and skeptical as it had been earlier. Their brows were both furrowed but their eyes were softer, not glaring, as if their mutual respect and fascination with the moon eased the tension between them.

 

Drelmexa was suddenly hyper aware that she was just wrapped in a towel and that could definitely be why this man was staring at her. She glanced back up at the moon one last time before giving Saix a small nod and retreating into her room.

 

“Well that could’ve gone better,” she mused to herself as she wiped her hand down her face and rolled onto her bed.

 

She pulled up the covers and quickly flipped around onto her stomach. That was another weird thing; she didn’t really know where that habit came from, as far as she could recall  _ she  _ — the other woman — was a side sleeper but that just might have been something  _ she _ did. 

 

_ Where does one draw the line? Which memories are mine and which aren’t? _

 

Trying to desperately derail her own thoughts before she ended up having another existential crisis, she turned over a few more times. Finally finding a comfortable spot, Drelmexa closed her eyes and nearly immediately found herself dozing off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, wouldn't you know it; I'm capable of picking up the pace. From here on out things'll be more interesting bc, y'know, Organization.  
> Also I want everyone to know that I have a love/hate relationship with writing Xig. It's like my childhood's come back to haunt me with all of that 90s talk.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drelmexa gets a formal introduction and a little more than she bargained for.

It didn’t seem to take long before something was nudging her shoulder. She grunted and rolled over, more interested in sleeping. A hand grabbed her other shoulder and she grunted louder and swung her arm presumably at the person who was trying to wake her. Her hand swiped through the air effortlessly and flopped back down onto the bed. Slightly upset that she didn’t hit anything, she rolled over yet again and let out a loud groan.

 

“C’mon now, I told you it wasn’t gonna be that long.”

 

Drelmexa immediately recognized it as Xigbar’s voice and she peeked her head out of the blanket, squinting at him. She muttered something indistinguishable before narrowing her eyes even further.

 

Xigbar laughed and raised his arms in a shrug.  “I’m sorry what was that? Ya sounded like a sick crow.”

 

The woman turned her head away and yawned silently. She swallowed thickly, trying to make talking a little easier on her throat. “Coffee.”

 

“Haha, you’re one of those people, eh?”

 

Slowly, Drelmexa sat up, making sure the blanket was around her and nodded at Xigbar, her eyes closed.

 

“Well,” he contemplated,  “you might be able to get some if you get up right now. We’ve got two others here that need it to survive and trust me, they ain’t nice about it.”

 

“‘M in a tow’l,” Drelmexa grumbled, “Can’t leave bed. No clothes.”

 

A smirk crossed Xigbar’s features and he threw something at her knowing she wouldn’t be prepared to catch it. The pile of black fabrics hit her square in the face before falling onto the blankets in front of her.

 

“That’s your uniform and your boots are here by the door,” he explained,  “You put those on and meet me outside, ‘kay?”

 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” groaned Drelmexa.

 

Before leaving the room, Xigbar let out a small chuckle and shut the door behind him. Drelmexa only flopped back down onto her mattress and moaned. 

 

The urge to stay in bed and not move for the rest of the day was great but the threat from last night still lingered in the back of her mind and gave her the motivation she needed to lazily roll off of her bed and stand up. She carelessly discarded her towel not even a foot from her bed, kicking it into the same corner that yesterday’s clothes were thrown into but they were nowhere to be found. 

 

She heard a strange noise behind her and she immediately whipped around to see a Dusk standing there holding her clothes from yesterday. Except they were….clean. It extended its arms towards her, urging her to take them. Drelmexa was more confused than ever with this situation, unsure of how to properly respond.

 

_ I know Xemnas said they were mindless or something but….I mean….it washed my clothes. I  _ highly _ doubt anyone told it to do that…. _

 

She took the clothes and cleared her throat as best she could. “Thank you.” 

 

It wiggled at her, something she took as a sign of appreciation, and then it vanished. Drelmexa’s eyes widened in confusion and awe.

 

_ Yeah, that’s gonna take some getting used to. _

 

Ultimately glad that she had something to wear other than a towel, she reached in and grabbed an article of clothing from the pile and discovered it was a shirt.

 

_ Well that’s nice I guess. _

 

It was a dark grey tank top- nothing fancy about it- and she couldn't help but smile a little that it was definitely her style. She next found a pair of black pants that happened to be the best fit she’d ever had.

 

_ Oh. My. God. I will be content doing whatever the fuck I have to as long as it means I can have more pants like these. _

 

She went to step back over to the bed to grab the last piece of her outfit and saw it was the cloak that she’d seen everyone else in this place wearing. It was well fitted through the torso and flared out at the hips, almost reaching the floor. The shoulders were slightly wider than her own, letting her arms move freely without pulling the rest of the coat with it and the sleeves were somewhat fitted around the upper arm but flared out and the hem came to a rest at her second knuckles. 

 

A glimpse of something black on her bed startled her and her eyes snapped to a pair of black gloves that had fallen out of the jacket. A hundred curses flew through her mind as she chided herself for being too jumpy. Yet again, she was shocked by how perfect the gloves fit her long, slender fingers and wider palms.

 

While examining her gloves she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it was still dark outside.

 

_ At least I don’t have to worry about the sun blinding me….but what time is it? _

 

The boots she found to the side of the door were black with silver embellishments at the knees but there was one particular accent that Drelmexa loved about them— they were high heels. She pulled them on and was easily 6’ 2”. Had she been more awake she probably would have run across the room in them just to test how stable they were. 

 

“Coffee’s gonna be gone if you don’t—”

 

Drelmexa quickly opened the door before Xigbar could finish his sentence; she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being the thing to draw her out of her room. She turned to look at him and realized just how far down she had to look to make eye contact.

 

_ Wow….don’t think I noticed yesterday that he was about my height. This’ll make for an interesting walk together. _

 

Xigbar also made visible note of her increased height; his mouth fell into a slight frown and he squared his shoulders.

 

“Look at you,” he said, still managing a lighthearted tone,  “I’ll bet you give a lot of the guys around here a run for their money; they’re not gonna wanna tangle with you at that height.”

 

“Good.”

 

He was taken aback by her blunt statement, not expecting such a defensive attitude. His eyebrows raised and he looked to the floor. 

 

“Whatever. Kitchen’s this way.”

 

Xigbar led them down the halls back towards the area that they had first appeared in last night. Drelmexa was trying her best to memorize the series of turns in hope that she wouldn’t need a guide for very long. She smelled food as they kept going and soon, the faint smell of coffee. Xigbar was the first one through the doorway.

 

He swept his arm out towards the cabinets.  “Have at it.”

 

A few other people were in the room when Drelmexa walked in— Saïx, two blonde men - one of which she had seen yesterday - and one man with incredibly bright red hair. Her eyes darted around and she knew she looked uncomfortable; there was no hiding it this time.

 

Saïx seemed even more displeased to see her than he did last night in Xemnas’ office. The blonde with long hair eyed her suspiciously, looked at Xigbar, then finished whatever was in his mug and left the room. The blonde she had seen briefly last night either didn’t notice her presence or didn’t care, as he kept his attention glued to his breakfast of what she assumed to be eggs and some sort of toast abomination. Out of all of them, the red-haired man was the most interested and almost immediately came over.

 

“Xigbar,” he said with a hint of excitement and curiosity, “who’s this?”

 

“I dunno…” Xigbar pondered,  “Should I tell you now or should I wait ‘til the meeting….”

 

The redhead didn’t wait for Xigbar to finish his overplayed statement and stepped up to Drelmexa.

 

“Hey. Nice to see a new face around here. My name’s Axel. Got it memorized?”

 

Xigbar, for the second time this morning, looked slightly offended and let out a small huff.  “Man, no one is listening to me today.”  He left Drelmexa and walked over to the refrigerator and began rummaging through its contents.

 

Drelmexa looked at Axel and only managed a meager “hi” in response.

 

“You got a name yet? Or do I get to make one up for you,” he smiled.

 

She spoke but avoided making eye contact. “Drelmexa. My name’s Drelmexa.” 

 

“Drel-mex-a,” he drew out each syllable, testing it. ”That’s a bit of a mouthful….Mind if I shorten it to Drel?”

 

_ At least he seems polite. That’s kind of a first here. _

 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she replied, finally meeting his gaze for a moment before looking around the kitchen.

 

“Aww,” Xigbar bemoaned,  “Too bad, Princess. Coffee’s gone.”

 

Irritation flashed across Drelmexa’s face. “Would it kill you to stop with the nicknames,” she spat.

 

“Heeeey,” Axel said as he threw his arm around the taller woman’s shoulder, “That’s just how Xigbar is; everyone’s got a nickname….and trust me, I  _ hate _ mine. Considering how bad it could be, I’d be pretty happy with ‘Princess’.”

 

“Why, Flamsilocks, I didn’t know that about you.”

 

Axel cringed when he heard his designated nickname and quickly amended his previous statement. “No wait! Not me, personally; if I  _ was her _ , I wouldn’t mind ‘Princess’.”

 

Xigbar was giggling to himself over his food while Saïx seemed entirely nonplussed by the whole situation and simply glared at Axel, trying to tell him something without actually speaking. Axel either didn’t notice or didn’t care and continued talking to Drelmexa.

 

“You’re really tall, there. I mean you’ve got the heels and all but how tall are you normally,” he questioned as he turned his head up towards hers.

 

Her cheeks heated up, not expecting to be asked so directly or so soon after meeting someone. “Uhm, I’m about 5’ 10” without shoes on a good day.” She shyly turned her head towards Axel. “You wouldn’t happen to know if there’s coffee grounds somewhere here, would you?”

 

“Yeah, there’s—”

 

“The meeting is starting shortly,” Saïx finally spoke up, irritated, “I suggest you all gather yourselves.” 

 

Xigbar and Luxord stopped the conversation they were having to look at Saïx. They exchanged looks with one another before shaking hands and parting ways; Luxord walking out of the room and Xigbar walking back toward Axel and Drelmexa.

 

“Duty calls,” Axel sighed before giving a casual salute to Drel and vanishing through a portal.

 

Saïx followed suit, walking out of the room with his chin held up in silent indignation.

 

Before Xigbar could say anything, Drel spoke freely for the first time that morning. “Why does he hate me so much? I have been here for, like, 8 hours. What could I possibly have done?” She leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed her arms.

 

“Eh, he really doesn't like anyone,” Xigbar explained,  “you’ll get used to it eventually. Now come on, Princess, it’s time for your big debut!”

 

“I— what?!” Drel dropped her arms and walked up to Xigbar, unintentionally towering over him. “My debut? What are you talking about? Oh my god, do I have to give a speech to people I don’t currently know but will be spending absurd amounts of time with from now on,” she hurriedly spouted.

 

“Woah slow down. No speeches, you just have to stand there and answer any questions directed at you. Real simple.”

 

Xigbar opened up a portal with a quiet  _ swoosh _ und ushered her in.  “Good luck,” he smirked.

 

Drelmexa nervously walked into the swirling, inky darkness and it slowly enveloped her. Despite this not being her first time in a corridor of darkness, this time she was alone and had nothing else to distract her attention from the nearly suffocating abyss. She stopped walking after a couple steps, looking around for any sign of life in this strange in-between world. A feeling to run off in a different direction or back where she came from tugged at the corners of her thoughts but she forced herself forward, knowing there was only one way to get out. 

 

A few more steps and she was in a bright white and grey room. She couldn’t help but close her eyes at the sudden shift from dark to light. A voice startled her out of her blinded stupor and she slowly began to look around for the source.

 

“It seems our newest member has arrived.”

 

She recognized it as Xemnas’ voice but she was unable to immediately pinpoint where it was coming from until she realized the pillars around her weren’t really pillars at all. Enormous chairs sat at varying heights around her, on top of which the Organization members were seated. How fitting that she found Xemnas directly in front of her and in the highest chair of them all.

 

_ This seems a little much but I suppose I’d do the same thing if I ran a group of people whom I wanted to fear me. _

 

“This is Drelmexa. She has come to join our cause but her powers have not yet manifested.”

 

She felt the eyes of many people staring at her from all sides and could hear the incredibly quiet whispering floating around the room. She made it a point to stand tall and put on a straight face; these people didn’t get to see what kind of cards she had.

 

“Lexaeus,” Xemnas instructed, “you will accompany her until such a time arises.”

 

A new man, one she had not dared look at yet, asked the exact question she was thinking.

 

“And if that time does not come?”

 

“I believe the way you teach will sort that out.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Drelmexa couldn’t help but shiver at the implication. 

 

_ Well, girl….you made it to 25 and I think that’s about all it’s gonna be. Magic doesn’t exist and you’re gonna die because reality doesn’t work that way. _ Fuck. Me.

 

Through her nervous thoughts she heard that strange, quiet noise and looked up. Xemnas had left through one of those portals and some of the other people in the room looked like they were about to do the same. She quickly looked to Xigbar, panicking that she wouldn’t be able to get out of the room. He merely smiled at her and gave a perfunctory wave.

 

“Have fun with your new friend,” he said before leaving, himself.

 

She nearly fell over when one of the portals appeared directly in front of her. Not wanting to be stared at any longer she walked through without a second thought. It was only when she emerged on the other side in an unfamiliar place that she began to question who had placed it there for her.

 

The grey-white walls were the same as almost every other area she had been to but this seemed more like a sort of common room; an open area with a low table, some bookshelves, and various armchairs. 

 

A deep voice called out from behind her and she tensed immediately.

 

“You seem to assume and follow directions unprompted. I don’t know whether or not that will benefit you in the future.”

 

_ What the fuck!? Did I enter on the wrong side? Or was someone a jackass and do this on purpose? I’m so tired of this and it’s been like….maybe 10 hours total. _

 

Drel turned around slowly, trying to downplay her surprised reaction.  _ Not until I know I can trust these people. _

 

Though only one had spoken, there were three people behind her; one she recognized as the disgruntled blonde from the kitchen, another was very short with grey hair and reminded her of a time far back in her memories, and the third - the one she assumed had spoken to her - was tall. Bigger than the man that had startled her last night; there didn’t look to be a huge difference between them, but this guy was definitely larger. His rust-colored hair was short and swept back, not neatly, but it was out of his face.

 

The blonde was the first to speak and remained as suspicious and condescending as he had seemed earlier. “Xemnas really thinks this girl is wor—”

 

“Woman,” Drelmexa corrected, “I’m an adult.”

 

It was hard to tell which of them was more offended, their faces mirroring each other.

 

“Oh, are you,” he questioned, sarcasm and doubt dripped from his words, “Just how old are you then, 20?”

 

The other two men in the room didn’t look like they were going to intervene; the larger one stood there looking mildly exasperated and the shorter one crossed the room and flopped down on a couch and began reading.

 

Drelmexa steeled her expression as much as she could and replied, “I’m 25, actually. So if you’d not patronize me, that’d be great.”

 

His expression lifted somewhat, either shocked that she was that old or impressed by her word usage, and continued his first statement, “Xemnas thinks that this,” - he paused - “woman….is worth taking the time to teach? What happens if she’s not a keyblade wielder? What good will she be then?!”

 

The man from the couch looked over his book and spoke up at this remark.

 

“Vexen, she could probably replace someone around here even if she  _ can’t _ wield the keyblade. Look at her, she’s more imposing than Demyx, to be sure.”

 

That seemed to completely shut down whatever argument Vexen had planned to continue and he slowly shifted his weight onto one foot and turned away toward the chairs but passed them in favor of the bookcases. He grabbed a particularly large book and turned back towards Drelmexa.

 

“At any rate introductions are in order. I am Vexen, the boy here is Zexion, and that’s Lexaeus.”

 

Both Zexion and Lexaeus seemed less than thrilled to have Vexen take over their introductions. Zexion rolled his eyes and returned to his book. Unsure of what she should be doing, Drel pursed her lips and rocked back on her heels.

 

“So, is—“

 

Before she could finish her question Lexaeus cut her off. “I brought you here to ask you a few questions.”

 

A quiet ‘oh’ was all Drelmexa could muster, suddenly very nervous about having to answer impromptu questions.

 

“For cripes sake, let her sit down, Lexaeus,” exclaimed Zexion. Everyone in the room turned to him, shocked at his boldness. He merely nodded his head towards the other side of the couch. “She looks like she’s about to fall over.”

 

Drelmexa sheepishly made her way to the couch and sat down in the corner, trying to take up as little space as possible. Vexen was busy muttering about how ‘the new one gets more consideration than he - a senior member - does’ and Zexion was quick to retort.

 

“It’s  _ because _ she’s new. Do you really want another Demyx or Larxene walking around being loud just for attention?”

 

If she could have folded herself into a singularity and disappeared from this dimension she would have; she rested her elbow on the arm of the couch and set her forehead in her palm, grimacing and pretending she didn’t exist.

 

“How are you feeling,” Lexaeus asked, breaking the tension in the room.

 

_ Awkward as hell, dude.  _ “Tired and sore.”

 

“Hmmm,” he quickly looked her over and noticed the spot on her face that hadn’t healed overnight. “I see. I’ll make this quick then and let you rest until tomorrow.”

 

Drelmexa blinked and nodded appreciatively, resting would be infinitely better than trying to rescue this socialization attempt.

 

“If you can remember, what skills did you have or do you have currently?”

 

She stared at Lexaeus as if he had spoken in another language.

 

“What,” blurted Drelmexa. “I mean, uhm….I can sew pretty well, I guess….”

 

She heard Vexen scoff at her words from across the room and she resisted throwing him a look. Lexaeus shook his head.

 

“Any combat skills or magic,” he clarified.

 

Furrowing her brow she answered him. “No magic but I can use my fists pretty well if I need to….” 

 

She could tell that Zexion was laughing at her from behind his book but was at least making an effort to hide it. 

 

“Why,” she added, after looking back to Lexaeus.

 

“It gives me an idea of where to start your training.” He moved to sit down in a large cushioned armchair next to a pile of paperback books. “You should eat, then go back to your room and rest until tomorrow.”

 

Drelmexa nervously shifted in her seat.  _ If I knew where my room was I’d  _ gladly _ go back there. _

 

Zexion took another glance over the top of his book and caught her distress. Vexen hadn’t moved from his spot and Lexaeus had begun writing in one of the paperbacks. Heaving a sigh that seemed too big for his body, he tapped Drelmexa’s shoulder and stood up. She jumped at his touch but followed him out of the room as he left.

 

He didn’t bother to turn around as he spoke to her. “You don’t know where your room is from here, do you?” 

 

“No. I don’t have a clue where I am right now.” She easily kept pace with him as they strode down the hall. Her head hung low as they continued on in silence. After a few different turns Drelmexa spoke up again. “If you tell me where the kitchen is, I can find it from there.”

 

Zexion said nothing and continued leading her through the hallways. Drelmexa considered making light conversation but she wasn’t really good at that sort of thing and it didn’t seem like Zexion was the type to enjoy it very much either. She was about to apologize for not knowing her way around but almost ran right into Zexion’s back.

 

Stopping right in front of the kitchen, Zexion turned around and looked at her for a moment before squinting and walking back in the direction they had come from.

 

“Uhhm….thanks,” she called after him, very confused about his behavior.

 

“Oooh, spat ya back out, did they,”  Xigbar asked from his seat at the table.

 

Drelmexa narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. “No,” she retorted as she started rummaging through the cabinets, completely fed up with Xigbar and his teasing. “Lexaeus? Yeah, Lexaeus….said I should rest today and we’d hit the business side of things tomorrow.”

 

“That’s cute of him,” he laughed,  “What’d you do to make him take pity on you?”

 

She whipped her head around. “What?!”

 

“Normally he’d take you out anyway, what’d you do that made him decide on tomorrow?”

 

“Okay, first off,” she said while shoving a cracker into her mouth, “It’s not ‘taking pity’ on me, it’s called being considerate. And secondly, I didn’t do anything! He saw I was still injured from last night and decided that tomorrow would be better.”

 

“Call it what you want, Princess. You’re lucky as hell, though, lemme tell ya,” he said nonchalantly as he picked at his sandwich. 

 

Drelmexa quickly ate a few more crackers before questioning Xigbar’s vague statement. “Dare I ask why?”

 

“Why you’re lucky?” He laughed.  “I’ll tell ya this, Princess, I really do believe in you but if you’d gone out today it would’ve been the last time you went out anywhere.” Xigbar went back to his sandwich which, after Drelmexa looked at it for a minute, turned out to be a single slice of bread folded over with mostly lettuce stuffed inside and some sort of….mystery paste.

 

“I would’ve died, is what you’re telling me,” she said flatly. “Well thanks for the vote of confidence.”

 

“Now wait a minute,” Xigbar said as he took another bite of his incredibly pathetic sandwich.  “I said I believed in you, that’s confidence!”

 

Drelmexa was about to reply but was cut short by a voice calling out from around the corner.

 

“Is the last remnant of that horrible contest gone yet, Xigbar? I’d like to forget this embarrassing win as soon as possible.”

 

The owner of the voice came into the kitchen and turned out to be a tall pink-haired man whose expression looked as if he had just had the worst day of his life. 

 

Xigbar rolled his eye.  “Nah, Princess is right here and won’t be leavin’ for at least another day. You’ll just have to live with yourself until then, Marluxia.”

 

The pink haired man surveyed the kitchen and zeroed in on Drelmexa. He closed the space between them in a few short strides and looked her up and down. Drelmexa raised an eyebrow at him and put a hand on her hip.

 

“Word to the wise,” Xigbar said to no one in particular as he got up from the table. “Princess doesn’t do well in small spaces, best to give her some room.” He walked out of the kitchen but poked his head back in seconds later, looking as if he’d forgotten something.  “Rest up, Princess!” Xigbar smiled as he left this time, leaving Drelmexa alone with who she supposed was another coworker.

 

Marluxia merely snorted and walked back the way he’d came. Drel got the sinking feeling that this was going to be a common thing - at least for a while.

 

“What was that,” asked another voice from outside the kitchen, female this time.

 

“Just checking the garbage,” Drelmexa heard Marluxia say.

 

She sighed and stuffed three more crackers into her mouth before trying to locate the cups. Luckily for her they were in the first cabinet she checked and she grabbed one and filled it from the sink. She thought she heard another person either trying not to sneeze too loudly or choking back a laugh.

 

_ This is not my day….  _ Drelmexa turned back to the entryway just in time to see a blonde woman giving her a disinterested once-over before she ducked behind the wall again.

 

“ _ Definitely _ not my day,” she sighed.  _ I wonder….if anyone noticed I’m gone. _

 

She’d had this thought before - when she first arrived in Twilight Town - but it had been quite some time since it had last crossed her mind. 

 

The sound of approaching footsteps dragged her back into the present. She was quick to put away the crackers and wash her cup, hoping to make herself scarce before anyone else could drag her. As she hurriedly stepped around the island counter to leave the room she collided right into Axel.

 

He grabbed her shoulders and held her at arm’s length while shaking off the shock of the impact. Drelmexa was silently thanking the universe that she was so tall and didn’t end up headbutting Axel; she was sure that would make for the absolute worst 24-hour period of her life. 

 

“Woah, slow down there, Drel. What’s got you in such a hurry,” he asked after he recovered.

 

She wracked her brain for the best true excuse she could use and sighed, “I need a nap.”

 

Axel smirked, “Sooooo, the fact that I saw Marluxia and Larxene giggling down the hall had nothing to do with it?”

 

“Well, I won’t deny that’s part of the reason I need a nap,” Drelmexa muttered. “It’s been a long 24 hours and I just kinda wanna be done with everything.”

 

“After the ominous and lackluster introduction you got,” asked Axel, facetiously. “I can’t say I’m surprised.” He sighed and rubbed at his neck in hopes that some form of an answer would come to him as he looked aimlessly around the room.

 

Drelmexa noticed that Axel was feeling just as uncomfortable as she was. She gave a half hearted smile. “Yeah, so if you don’t mind…” she said as she sidestepped the man in her way.

 

She almost made it out of the room before Axel called out to her, albeit at not more than a whisper.

 

“Don’t give up, alright?”

 

“Right.” 

 

Her eyes closed as she walked out and down the hallway. All of the day’s interactions were playing on repeat in her mind. Could she have done better? Was this really going to be her life now? Or possibly the end of it? 

 

She reached her room and shut the door, leaned against it, and slowly slid down to the floor to take off her boots and gloves. As she looked around, she saw her life reflected in the vacant room; only a bed, a sidetable, a desk, and nothing of her own to put on any of them. Slowly, her brows furrowed and she picked herself up off the floor. There wasn’t even a chair for the desk!

 

She made up her mind— this was unacceptable. Either she was going to go out fighting or she was going to make it through this and build her life back up to what it had been 24 hours ago with friends, possessions, a comfy living space— the works.

 

Now determined and indignant, she shucked off her coat and threw it into a corner. Tomorrow when someone came to get her for whatever training she had to go through, she was going to be ready.  

 

* * *

 

Xigbar stopped at Drelmexa’s bedroom door and peeked in.

 

“Princess,” he called. Hearing no response, he pushed the door in further and saw a mess of limbs and blankets that he assumed was the sleeping woman. He called to her again and when she didn’t move he knew it was his time to shine. Xigbar strolled over to her bedside and smiled to himself. 

 

“Hey, Princess! Rise and shine,” he yelled as he yanked one end of the blanket mass.

 

Startled by the loud noise and sudden movement, Drelmexa flailed around and got even more tangled in the sheets, ending up with the top half of her body on the floor, looking up at Xigbar. She loudly grumbled at him, something akin to ‘I hate you and I’m in pain’ but it came out as a string of unintelligible sounds.

 

He laughed. “Come on, you already slept in.  _ Way _ in,” continued Xigbar. “Lexaeus is outside waitin’ for ya.”

 

Drelmexa feebly lifted herself back onto the mattress and groaned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her gloves still on the bed and fumbled to put them on.

 

“Hey, that’s better than yesterday’s wake-up,” Xigbar said cheerfully. “You’re gettin’ the hang of it. Here, to celebrate.” He pulled his hand out from behind his back and held out a mug.

 

Stumbling off the bed, Drelmexa moved over to Xigbar and took the cup from him. It only took a second for her to realize it was coffee and she was quick to take a drink. Unfortunately for her it was fresh and still hot enough that she regretted her decision near immediately. She swallowed as quickly as she could and decided to take a more measured approach to drinking the rest.

 

“Good luck out there, Princess.” 

 

Just as she went to thank him, Xigbar was already out the door and she saw Lexaeus standing there with an unreadable expression.

 

_ This can’t be good. _

 

Drelmexa picked her coat up off the floor and started putting it on while taking sips of coffee and did the same with her boots. She assumed from yesterday that Lexaeus was a man of few words and she wouldn’t be bombarded with conversation. This was at once comforting and distressing; comforting because she hated small-talk, especially when still groggy and distressing because at that point she had no idea of what was going to happen and nothing to distract her from it.

 

“Are you finished,” Lexaeus asked, dragging Drelmexa out of her thoughts.

 

“Mm. Yeah,” she croaked.

 

“Then training starts now,” he stated, opening up a portal. “We’re going down to the city below. It’s empty; nothing should get in the way.”

 

Drelmexa said a small prayer in her head as she downed the rest of the coffee and set the mug down on the desk. She gathered her hair into a messy ponytail and shook her head to try and wake herself up a little more before following after Lexaeus.

 

_ Good luck to me. _

 

It was relatively late in the afternoon; she guessed, anyway. The perpetual night over the entire city made it hard to tell.  _ Perhaps getting a clock would be beneficial. _ Lexaeus brought the two of them to a small tucked away alley. There were a few chunks of discarded scrap and trash beginning to pile up in the corners. Drel was as nervous as she had ever been, not knowing exactly what Lexaeus had planned for 'training'.    


 

"You have never had any magic," he asked patiently. 

  
  
"I can only assume not. If I had, it was all mundane things that never really registered as magical to me."

  
  
Lexaeus hummed thoughtfully, and narrowed his eyes. "Have you ever feared for your life?"

  
  
Drel's heart sank into her stomach. _Oh no...this is the end._ "If I'm being honest, not until this moment."

  
  
She didn't know it was possible but Lexaeus' expression became even more grim. He raised his right arm overhead then swung it in a downward motion. Drel watched in awe and horror as a large weapon appeared in his grip, nearly as big as she was.

  
  
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear," he said before lunging at the frightened woman before him.

  
  
She quickly dodged to the right, narrowly missing the swing, as small chunks of pavement were knocked loose. Her mind raced, trying to come up with any kind of plan to get out. She let out a sharp yelp when another swing came from behind her coming up just short of its intended target. Rock launched from the impact hit the back of her legs and she stumbled forward, scrambling to get up. 

  
  
"Sometimes our true powers only show when we're thrown to the wolves," he said as he turned to face Drelmexa. "This is how we learn what we are truly capable of."

  
  
Drelmexa huffed as she stood up, she wanted so badly to make any kind of smart retort but knew that it would just eat up time that she didn't have. Her right leg burned as the dull pain gradually became more and more noticeable. 

  
  
_Welp, that's gonna be a nasty bruise assuming I live to see it._

  
  
She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon but all the trash here was too small and not worth risking the run to pick up; it was her fists or running away and she really didn't see either of those options working out for her. Her eyes flitted from Lexaeus to the entrance he was blocking and knew she had to lure him away from that spot. 

  
  
_Sure, he hits damn hard but he's slow enough that I could probably slip past him if I have enough room._  


  
Drel backed up and to the left, not taking her eyes off of Lexaeus.  


  
He raised an eyebrow. "Will you not defend yourself?"  


  
"I don't know how," she yelled in frustration and wished she could have a minute or two to herself to cry. It was strange, she was never an angry crier but this mix of frustration, fear, and desperation drew it out of her.  


  
For a moment she thought she saw concern flicker across Lexaeus' features but in a blink his face was back in his usual stony expression. He picked up his weapon and swung in a wide half arc in front the of him, forcing Drelmexa back even further.   


  
_He's backing me into a corner! What the hell am I gonna do then?!_  


  
She ran forward in an attempt to catch him off guard and escape but Lexaeus had been anticipating such and swung hard in her direction, sending her flying backwards exactly where she didn't want to be -- the corner.   


  
Drel choked out a scream as she hit the wall, knocking the wind out of her. Everything in her body felt like it had been smashed to pieces and she wanted nothing more than to scream at the top of her lungs but she didn't know if she could.   


  
Lexaeus towered over her slouched form and give her a look that seemed like he was sincerely trying to be sympathetic and it only made her angrier.   


  
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."   


  
He raised his weapon again and they both knew that it was the end. Drel let out one last yell as she brought her arms up to try and defend herself as she waited for the crushing impact. It didn't come.

 

Instead she heard the clanging of metal and looked up to find that all the scrap scattered around had coalesced into a barrier between her head and Lexaeus' weapon.    


  
Lexaeus was surprised and lifted his weapon off of the small wall of pipes and sheet metal. Once Drelmexa had realized that for now the fight was over she slowly lowered her hands and the pieces of metal all clanked to the ground. She stared at the pieces and looked back at the man who had nearly killed her.   


  
"What was that about," she finally yelled.  


  
Lexaeus flinched, not expecting her to make so much noise. Calmly as ever he explained.  


  
"It was highly unlikely that if you had any latent powers they would present themselves if you weren't forced to use them. I forced a situation in which you had an ultimatum; either those powers come forward or you die."  


  
It was a lot to process at once but Drel was keeping up with him so far, though her attention did stray a little as she began to play with one of the pipes, waving her hand and fingers to make it move through the air.  


  
"Now we can work on figuring out what you are capable of."  


  
She snapped her focus back to him and the pipe fell to the ground with a loud clang.  


  
"Draw your weapon," Lexaeus said flatly.   


  
Slightly offended by his back-to-business attitude but also curious as to what she could do, Drelmexa carefully picked herself up off the ground. She grabbed the wall for support as she stood on her shaky legs and glared at Lexaeus.  


  
"You seriously expect me to keep going," she asked.  


  
"Once we finish here I'll give you something to help with the pain," he said, "until then, we continue training."  


  
In pain and angry, Drelmexa rolled her eyes and thought about what she would do if she had any weapon.   


  
_How_ would _I draw my weapon...._  


  
She swooped into a low, wide stance and held her arms out on either side. A flicker of darkness danced around her hands and she thought she felt something heavy resting in them but when she looked there was nothing there. She sighed.  


  
"Try again," Lexaeus encouraged, "call it, it's part of you."  


  
"I hurt. It's a bit difficult to concentrate."  


  
"You're hurt, even more of a reason it should come to you," he countered.   


  
Drelmexa scowled and cursed under her breath.  


  
_Fucking hell, dude. You smashed my torso into at least three times the amount of bones that should be there and I'm supposed to be able to use goddamn magic. Until two minutes ago I didn't even know that was possible! Whatever…._  


  
She lowered back into her stance and held out her arms once more and wished as hard as she could to be granted something to hit Lexaeus over the head with. The dark, thorny ribbons came back and swirled around and this time she definitely felt something solid in her hands.   


  
A heavy weight roughly a foot long connected to a chain hung in each of her hands and ran up into her sleeves. She gave a light tug on them and found that it was actually one long chain that reached across her back. Bringing one of the weights up to her face, she noticed the design was strangely similar to the chains that hung from her cloak. The chain itself was a dark steel in color while the weights were patterned with navy and silver accents.  


  
_Holy shit. That'll work for me._  


  
Lexaeus looked rather pleased that she was finally able to conjure something up.   


  
"Good. That's what I was hoping for. "  


  
She looked at him quizzically.  "You hoped I would have summoned a heavy-ended metal jump rope and be able to move garbage?"  


  
"What? No," he quickly stated, "You were able to access your own powers. More importantly, you had them to begin with."   


  
He walked over to Drelmexa and pulled something from his coat to hand to her. She took the small bottle from him and examined it.  


  
"It's a potion. Should take away the pain and start the healing process."  


  
Drelmexa grimaced and quickly downed the contents of the bottle. It didn't taste terrible but it wasn't like drinking a cup of juice either— like really watered down wine.

 

Sure enough, the pain began to subside and she was filled with a numb staticy feeling that drowned out most of the discomfort.   


  
"Thanks," she muttered, though she still wanted to knock him into next Tuesday.   


  
Lexaeus placed his hand on her shoulder and looked down at her with a less grumpy expression.   


  
"It's nothing personal, this is the most effective way to bring out someone's true nature," he paused to step in front of her and face her directly. "I'm glad you were able to hold your own. I don't want to end an existence if I don't have to."  


  
It was mildly comforting to hear that she wasn't hated by him, at least. She looked up at the large man in front of her and cocked her head.   


  
"What next, then?"  


  
Lexaeus cracked a smile. He took a step back and turned back towards the scrap pile that Drel had accidentally created earlier.   


  
"Do you think that you can handle a little more?"  


  
"After that weird green stuff, yeah. I think so."  


  
He looked proud for a moment before his face went back to being serious. Lexaeus walked over to a particular piece of metal.   


  
"Lift this one."  


  
"But what do I do with my weapon?"  


  
Lexaeus gave her an incredulous blink, as if she should already know how to work with it.  


  
"Dismiss it. You don't need it right now, it should fade away."  


  
Drelmexa raised her eyebrows and looked down at the chain in her hands. Still holding them, she opened her hands, palms facing up and willed the heavy metal to disappear. With a small flourish of darkness her weapon vanished from her grip. She snapped her head back towards Lexaeus and smiled much like a small child would upon first being able to tie their shoes.   


  
Lexaeus, much less impressed than she was, just nodded his head back toward the scrap he had asked her to move.   


  
"Oh, right...."  


  
She stepped closer to the pile and looked down at the piece she was supposed to move. It didn't look any bigger than the piece she was idly playing with earlier. She shrugged her shoulders and held her right hand out at arm's length. Imagining it moving in sync with her hand, she lifted her arm and watched as the pipe rose and fell with her movements.   


  
_Well ain't that nifty as shit._  


  
"How many can you move at once," asked Lexaeus, "and can you move both arms independently?"  


  
"I can sure as hell try." Drelmexa smiled at her own performance, completely amazed that magic existed and that she could use it.   


  
Drel put both arms in front of her and waved them up and down but only the one piece moved. She focused harder and reached out with her mind to try and touch the other pieces. Still nothing. She felt her body falling out from under her and barely opened her eyes fast enough to break her fall.

 

The ground fell in and out of focus a few times before she was able to recover enough to sit up. Lexaeus knelt next to her, talking but she only just noticed. 

 

“Are you alright?”

 

She blinked hard and opened her eyes again, trying to force them to refocus. “I’m— yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just really, really not good.”

 

“That’s contradictory.”

 

“Wouldn’t want you to worry or anything.”

 

Lexaeus rolled his eyes and gently scooped the woman up into his arms.

 

“But wait, I wasn’t done yet!”

 

“Yes, you were,” he said sternly. “As Nobodies, pushing ourselves too far beyond what our bodies can handle can have unpleasant consequences. Our bodies are all that we are, if that runs out, so do we.”

 

The thought slowly began to sink into her fatigued brain. Her eyes shot open and she looked in terror at the man carrying her.

 

“You mean….I can die just by expending too much energy,” she asked, horrified.

 

Lexaeus opened a portal and stepped through. “Not quite. If you put the essence of yourself into a fight or expend magical energy when you have none, you’re using up what makes your current body. On the other hand, not sleeping and continuing to move around and do things won’t kill you unless you ignore all of the physical signs and discomfort for a long time and you begin using the energy that you’re made of.”

 

Drelmexa hummed quietly in acknowledgement. “So how do I fix this?”

 

“A trip to Vexen to make sure you don’t need extra help healing, some food, and some sleep,”

 

“Won’t I heal while I’m sleeping,” she asked as she gingerly readjusted herself in Lexaeus’ arms.

 

The world opened up into bright white and grey as Lexaeus walked them both back into the castle. Saïx was in the room, presumably waiting for Lexaeus to report back, Drelmexa guessed. She decided against pointing out the fact that she lived in hopes that maybe they could eventually be on good speaking terms. Lexaeus, however, was not intimidated by Saïx’s presence and began giving a report as he carried Drelmexa through the room.

 

“She lives and has enough power to stay,” he explained quietly, “However, she’s not a keyblade wielder. It seems she has some sort of magnetism ability or can control metal, more work will need to be done after she’s recovered.”

 

Saïx walked next to him and worked on writing down a few keywords until he noticed Drelmexa watching him. He scowled and dropped the hand holding his clipboard down to his waist. “So you went easy on her?”

 

“No. Her self-preservation instinct didn’t kick in until it was almost too late.”

 

“Wow, thanks,” Drelmexa muttered only loud enough for the man carrying her to hear.

 

“Very well,” said Saïx. He stopped walking and Lexaeus turned to face him. “I expect a full report by the end of the day.”

 

“You’ll have it.”

 

With that said, Saïx walked back to the room he had come from and Lexaeus continued down the hall and effortlessly continued his previous conversation.

 

“You will heal while you sleep but the day you were introduced I noticed that you are a slow healer. If you are moderately injured, it would be best for Vexen to speed up the process so you’re ready later.”

 

Drelmexa knitted her brows and looked up at Lexaeus. “How later?”

 

He gave her a similarly confused look but continued walking.

 

“I mean….” she fumbled for words. “When is  _ later _ ? Later today? Later like tomorrow? Later on in the week?”

 

“Likely tomorrow or the day after. Recovery is crucial to continuing.”

 

“Oh. Sooo….not to get ahead of myself but,” she wondered out loud, “we get sick days?”

 

Lexaeus let out a small huff and the corners of his mouth twitched. “Only if it’s bad. Now be prepared; Vexen isn’t going to be happy about this as it detracts from his work.”

 

Her mouth spread into a grimace as she remembered how pleasant he had been yesterday and she had barely even said anything. “Are you sure we can’t just skip the visit,” she pleaded. “I can be half-healed and be able to do things tomorrow, right?”

 

“It would be more efficient to have you at your best,” stated Lexaeus.

 

“Hm. Joy.”

 

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Lexaeus called out to Vexen who came out of another room. 

 

“What? Why are you carrying her? What happened?” Vexen’s rapid-fire questions made Drelmexa wince at each one, knowing that the explanation would be less than satisfactory if Saix’s level of enthusiasm was any indicator.

 

Lexaeus, thankfully, was patient and talked Vexen through the entire ordeal. Zexion had peeked in the room about a minute into the explanation. He casually slinked past Vexen and sat down on the nearby couch, pretending to be reading but instead watched the situation unfold.

 

“I don’t see why everyone finds it necessary to pulverize their opponent,” mused Vexen. “But nevertheless, I’ll take a look at the gi— woman….and see what I can do.”

 

“Thanks,” Drelmexa said, “for both helping me and not belittling me.”

 

Vexen’s mouth twitched and he looked away. “Yes, well, I’m sure if I didn’t  _ someone _ would be upset,” he quipped. 

 

Drelmexa wasn’t sure if he was trying to shrug off her thanks to avoid embarrassment or if he really was simply doing this out to avoid confrontation but she appreciated it either way. Lexaeus carried her over into another room full of bookcases and a few tables. Stacks of books were on each desk and most of them were at least three feet tall; Drel didn’t know if she could read that much in her entire lifetime even if she devoted every waking hour to it.

 

Vexen set to clearing a space on one of the tables and as soon as there was enough room, Lexaeus set her down so that her legs dangled off the table- not quite able to touch the ground.

 

“How are you feeling currently,” Vexen asked, prodding gently at her shoulders and various points down her back.

 

She replied hesitantly. “Uhm….numb? I haven’t really felt much since that green stuff.”

 

“Well,” Vexen hummed in thought, “that’s both good and bad. You’re not in pain but also I don’t know where it would be best to focus. What hurt the most before the potion?”

 

“Oh, totally the torso. I probably have at least seven extra ribs,” she said as she noticed Zexion’s head peek around the doorframe. She gave him a half smile and he walked fully into the room but stayed by the door, leaning on the wall there.

 

“That’s right. You hit a brick wall fairly hard after the initial impact….tell me— do you mind if you’re knocked out for a few hours? My work won’t take that long but you won’t want to move much after; best to let the natural healing take its course.”

 

Before Drelmexa could say anything Lexaeus jumped into the conversation.

 

“She should eat first,” he objected, “Even if it isn’t much, she needs something.”

 

“Hm. You are right about that,” agreed Vexen. “But after that, you would be alright ending your day early?”

 

Drelmexa couldn’t believe her luck; sure she was terribly injured but she was still alive and being allowed to take a nap! “Yep. That’s fine with me. Also, if it’s not too much to ask, while you’re taking care of the ribs could you look at my right leg? It got hit with a chunk of pavement early on and I didn’t—”

 

Zexion suddenly was in front of the table with a bowl full of something and a glass of water. He held them out to her. “Sugared granola,” he said, “It’ll work best for recovering.”

 

She didn’t know when he had left or how he could have come back so quickly. She glanced at Vexen and Lexaeus before taking the items and by the looks on their faces, they weren’t sure either.

 

“Thanks,” she said with a smile, “I appreciate it.”

 

Vexen stared at the bowl of granola for a minute before turning to Zexion in confusion. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

 

Drelmexa hummed inquisitively while munching on the granola. 

 

Lexaeus seemed to catch on to Vexen’s thought process and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Zexion….”

 

“No, I didn’t,” stated Zexion nonchalantly. “Everyone in the kitchen saw Saix pour himself a bowl of his own granola and walk out. You could even ask them.”

 

“One of these days that little stunt of yours is going to backfire horribly,” Vexen scolded.

 

“I’m confused. What happened and why’s it bad,” asked Drelmexa.

 

Vexen sighed dramatically and sat down. “Zexion used his illusory powers to steal food from someone who is incredibly meticulous about said food.”

 

“Illusory….”

 

In answer to the question she was about to ask, Zexion disappeared and immediately in his spot stood Saix. Drelmexa yelped and nearly threw the spoon she was holding. Just as quickly as the swap happened, Zexion was again standing in front of her; no sign of Saix anywhere.

 

“Okay,” she squeaked, “thanks! Don’t like that at all!”

 

“You should eat before he notices it’s gone,” said Zexion. “I don’t think you’ll be the first person he confronts but he probably will eventually.” He gave Drelmexa one last glance and possibly a wink - it was hard to tell with his hair covering half his face - before he headed out the door.

 

Wide eyed and slightly fearful, Drelmexa spooned the remaining granola into her mouth and downed the glass of water. “Okay, I’m ready to sleep forever.”

 

“Oh good,” Vexen said as he handed her a small vial, “drink that and you should be out in no time.”

 

Lexaeus looked like he was going to say something but before he could do anything Drelmexa had grabbed the vial and drunk the contents. She sat there for a moment before wobbling and giving Vexen a concerned stare.

 

“It would be wise to—”

 

She suddenly pitched forward and Lexaeus reached to catch her before she fell completely off the table.

 

“Well, I was going to say it would be wise to lie down but it seems like we’re past that,” said Vexen. He started looking around the room for something. “Oh,” he continued, “she can’t stay here afterwards. Are you going to move her?”

 

If there was ever a day that Lexaeus had experienced that deserved the term “exasperating” this would be it. 

 

“Yes, I can take her to her room.”

 

“Wonderful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. That took longer than I had expected. I meant to have this up months ago but I was sidetracked by dental surgery and a fan project. Probably could have cut this into two chapters but I felt bad so y'all get this text wall. Updates should come monthly from now on unless something weird happens and I magically gain a source of income that doesn't involve me being in a warehouse most of the week.  
> And a fun fact!! This story actually started with the alley fight scene. I wrote it on a 20-hour car trip to New York and back. It's officially been a little over a year since I've started and I will not lie-- I haven't edited that scene at all since its inception on the Pennsylvania turnpike and the highway to nowhere.


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